This section describes the background art of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. There is no intention, either express or implied, that the background art discussed in this section legally constitutes prior art.
There have been a number of recent advancements in the techniques and devices to use to teach children how to ride a bicycle. One example has been the use of a balance bike, also called a running bike, similar to that referenced in U.S. Patent Publication No. US2010/0052287 to Mcfarland (“McFarland”). The McFarland vehicle is primarily a bicycle with a low seat height, but does not include pedals or cranks to propel the vehicle. This arrangement allows for a child to use the child's feet and legs to propel and balance the bike by walking or running, until the skill level of the user increases and the child can push and coast the bike.
Further reference may be made to the following patents; U.S. Pat. No. 8,414,007; U.S. Patent Publication No. US201410077470; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,794,654.
While this concept has been great at teaching very young children how to balance, the youngest age groups still lack the ability, strength and dexterity to advance to riding a standard bicycle with pedals and cranks. Thus, actually pedaling the bicycle becomes the next skill that needs to be conquered. During this transition from running bike to bicycle, often parents must simply wait for the child's motor skills to develop to the point where the child can keep their feet on the pedals while pedaling in a circular motion.
In addition to learning the basic skill of balancing on two wheels, for motorcycle riding, a child must learn the basic throttle control system through the use of twisting the throttle on the handlebar. This technique is difficult to teach, and somewhat dangerous if there is not constant adult supervision. There have been previous attempts to aid children by putting training wheels on small motorcycles, which can allow training of some balancing skills to be separated from throttle control skills. While this technique may reduce anxiety and allow earlier development, training wheels still fail to provide a completely realistic training tool for learning balance and throttle control. Further, the weight and size of the bike are concerns for smaller and younger children. Another potential problem occurs when a motorcycle may be ridden too fast before the child has a chance to acquire the skills needed to modulate the throttle, thus becoming more dangerous than necessary.
Another problem arises when attempting to provide a vehicle that has a low enough seat height so that a small child can straddle the vehicle or sit on the seat and still keep both feet on the ground. For bicycles, this problem arises because of the space required to provide the pedals and gears, while for motorcycles, the problem relates to providing a relatively large engine and other components. As a result, for both bicycles and motorcycles, the seat height must be raised to accommodate these components, thus resulting in seat heights that are too high for a child to keep both feet on the ground.